IN PERSON: Adventurer set to tackle the great white south

If the subzero temperatures for weeks on end don't get to him, then the loneliness might; if not the howling winds of Antarctica, then the 1,450 miles of cross-country skiing.

Starting in November and lasting the entire habitable season in Antarctica ---- summer, in the Southern Hemisphere ---- Linsdau, 38, plans to ski from the geographic coast of the continent to the South Pole and back, unsupported and unaccompanied.

That means he'll set out from Hercules Inlet towing more than 300 pounds of gear ---- enough food and stove gas to last 85 days, plus all of the equipment necessary to survive in the world's most unforgiving environment.

If and when he finishes the round trip, he will be the first American to have conquered the route.

"Probably one or two teams a year give it a try, and virtually everyone will go to the pole," he said.

But turning around and skiing back after reaching the polar bottom of the planet is the tougher half of the challenge.

"Even the desert has more to offer you," he told me on Wednesday, when I visited his home in Carlsbad. "I mean, even in the Sahara, there's the occasional beetle that'll cruise by, you know? There's scrubs and palm oases. On the coast (of Antarctica), there's plenty of life, but once you go inland, man, it's a true desert."

Linsdau will drop packages of supplies on his way south to sustain him on the way back.

He will probably have to hunker down for at least a day or two to wait out a blizzard, and he plans to log 20 to 22 miles a day on his skis under optimal conditions.

The trip is being overseen by a company called Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions, which has strict rules about how adventurers conduct themselves in the wilderness of Earth's most desolate land mass.

"Every 24 hours, you have to call in," Linsdau said. "If you don't call in within 48 hours, they scramble the plane and go to your last known position, and once that plane takes off, even if they show up and you're perfectly OK, it's over."

Since he is attempting an unsupported trip, it's not like he can order a new ski pole or a kit to patch a hole in his tent, either. If the plane lifts off headed in his direction, he's done.

"I've wanted to go since I was about 30," he said. "Just stewing it over in my head ---- maybe I'll take a cruise, or maybe do this, and it's evolved into something like, ‘If I'm going to go, I might as well go big.' This is as big as you can get."

Having known for years that he would attempt the round trip to the South Pole, Linsdau trekked through Yellowstone National Park each of the past three winters in preparation.

A software engineer by day, he trains an hour and a half every day in Carlsbad, dragging a tire around the city's side streets to simulate the drag of towing supplies.

And he is in the process of moving to his hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyo., so that he can spend his last months before the trip in conditions more similar to Antarctica's than balmy Carlsbad provides.

In the extreme cold of the South Pole, every mundane human activity becomes a chore. Meals begin with melting snow on the camp stove, sleep comes only after perfecting the shelter, and temperature management is both a delicate art and a mortal necessity ---- too few layers and you risk exposure; too many and the sweat will freeze.

"It's only like a quarter of an inch from your body to where the freezing point of water is, so you'll actually develop an ice layer in your jacket, if you're not careful," said Linsdau, explaining that his strategy is to start out slightly chilly. "It's uncomfortable for a bit, but then you warm up."

Linsdau said he's heard the first 10 days are the toughest, especially considering the 5,000-foot climb that marks the first 40 miles inland from Hercules Inlet. The South Pole rests at 9,000 feet in elevation.

"The scariest land objects are the crevasses ---- there are certain areas on the continent that always develop them as the ice moves, and many people have broken through," he said. "I don't know of anybody on this sort of trek who's gotten killed, but I've read about a couple that have gotten pretty dinged up."

None of that will slow him down. Linsdau is dedicating his trip to prostate cancer awareness ---- his father was diagnosed and beat the disease in recent years ---- and he invites anyone who's interested to follow along on his website,
www.ncexped.com
.

"I live for this sort of thing," he said with a broad smile. "I'll wake up in the middle of oblivion and say, ‘This is awesome!' I just love it."

Know anyone with an interesting job, history or outlook on life? Contact Tom Pfingsten at fallbrooktown@gmail.com.